


At Dawn

by DigitalSiamese



Category: Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Brotherhood of Steel (Fallout), F/M, NCR game ending, NCR | New California Republic, Post-Game(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-28 04:44:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18749269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DigitalSiamese/pseuds/DigitalSiamese
Summary: The battle is over, and new beginnings are on the horizon.(Nameless Courier)





	At Dawn

These nights, the Mojave is quiet.

There's no more skeleton troops being sent in from California; no more Legionary camps dotting the sands; no more _rat-a-tat-tat_ of distant machine-gun fire. The Second Battle for Hoover Dam is over and an NCR flag flies high over the Colorado, as sure of a sign as any that the Winds of Change have stopped blowing.

No, not stopped. Just settled. Things are always changing in the Mojave.

The Courier knows that better than anyone. It was all coincidental, really - she was just the right person, in the right place, at the right time. It had felt good, wielding the power to affect so many people. She hopes she did the right thing. One can never really know for sure.

“I was wondering where you disappeared to.”

She smiles when she hears his voice. Nolan - Elder McNamara. He sits down beside her on the concrete roof of Helios One, legs dangling over the field of solar panels below.

“How did it go?” she asks, turning her head to look at him. He laughs in disbelief, short and breathy. “Well. It went well.” There's hope in his eyes and a smile on his face, and she's reminded again of just how young he really is. “General Moore is -”

“Scary?” the Courier supplies, earning her a deeper laugh.

“Yes,” Nolan agrees. “Intimidating. She has more reason than most to hate the Brotherhood, and I...well, I can't exactly say that I blame her.” He pauses, frowning. “I'm not sure if our negotiations would have been as successful if there weren't so few of us left.” Sadness drifts into his eyes. The Courier reaches over and takes his hand, already missing his laughter.

“But they _were_ successful,” she reminds him. “And though giving up something is never easy, now you won't have to live always looking over your shoulder.” Grinning, she adds, “Peace between the Brotherhood and the NCR! It's a miracle!”

Nolan's smile returns as he says, “Thanks to you, my miracle-worker.”

“ _Me_?” she asks.

“Don’t play modest.” He fixes her with a look. “It was you who convinced Moore not to crush us. And it was you that pulled me out of my blindness. I should have listened sooner, to you, to Santangelo. I'm just glad it wasn't too late.” He lifts their entwined hands and reverently kisses her fingers, sending a wave of heat rushing across her face.

Dawn breaks, bathing them both in the pale light of morning.

“Thank you,” Nolan whispers against her skin. “You saved us.”

The Courier's heart is crumbling. “You aren't trying to get me to stay, are you?” she asks jokingly, trying and failing to keep the weight out of her voice.

Nolan smiles. “I am. Is it working?”

She can't help smiling back. “You know,” she replies, “if I stay, they'll be suspicious. The Scribes already think you made me an honorary Paladin because you're sweet on me.”

He leans forward. “That isn't a no.”

She stretches toward him to gently touch their foreheads together. “That isn't a denial that you're sweet on me.”

“I never said I wasn't,” he reminds her. “Stay. Stay with me, please.”

Gold is spilling out onto the sky, and the ambassador's voice is echoing below them as he leaves, and all around them the desert is coming alive at the start of a new day. The Courier can feel the Winds sweeping her into the unknown; and though she cannot choose whether to go, she _can_ choose whether to go alone.

“I don't know,” she teases. “Never did like you very much.”

Nolan gasps in fake surprise. “Nevermind. I rescind everything I've said to you, ever,” he says, even as he wraps his arms around her. “I never want to see you again.”

“The feeling's mutual,” she answers, leaning into him and burying her face in the crook of his neck.

There's a pause. “...That _is_ a yes, right?” Nolan asks.

The Courier giggles. “Yes, _of course_ , you ridiculous man.” Turning her head, she presses a kiss on the edge of his jaw. “I don't think I could leave you if I tried.”

**Author's Note:**

> I started shipping my Courier with McNamara as a joke, and then suddenly it wasn't a joke, hahah.


End file.
